Door stay and holder.



0. C. RIXSON. DOOR S TAY-AND HOLDER. APPLICATION FILED MAR- 2- 1918.

Patented Apr. 2 s, 1918.

OSCAR C. RIXSON, OF NEW BOCEELLE, NEW YORK.

noon STAY AND nonnnn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 23, 191%.

Application filed. March 2, 1918. Serial No. 219,960.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Oscar. C. ltixson, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Rochelle, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Eita-ys and Holders, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention is an improved door stay and holder designed primarily to overcome the shock and jar imparted to the device itself and to the door and its frame by the ordinary mechanism used for this purpose. The type of stay and holder to which the invention relates comprises two links or arms which are ointed together and respectively pivoted at their extremities to the upper part of the door and the door-frame. In the swing of the door outward the two links unfold into a straight line and upon reaching this condition the door is suddenly brought to a i stop, causing severe strain upon the anchorages and pivots, as well as jarring the door and door-frame. It has heretofore been proposed to use buffers and springs of various kinds to take up this shock, but nothing effective and of a practical nature has, so far as I know, been yet devised for this purpose. My invention therefore contemplates making one of the links or arms flexible or elastic in a direction transverse to its length and directing the force which ordinarily causes the jar on the straightening of the links, against the said flexible link in such a way that the force is consumed or absorbed in flexing or bending the link, and thereby protecting the device and the parts with which it is asso' ciated from the objectionable shock. The particular construction whereby this idea is carried out will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in plan of the improved stay applied to a door;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the stay alone;

Fig. 3 is a front and a side view of the anchorage bracket for the stay which is attached to the door; and

Fig. 1 illustrates a modified form of the stay and its application to a door.

1 indicates the door frame, 2 the door, and 3 the usual door hinge. 4 and 5 indicate two links or arms, one extremity of each being pivoted to' the other at 6, permitting them to fold and unfold upon each other.

The free end of link f is pivoted to the top member of the door frame at 7, a suitable bracket consisting of aplate 8 screwed to the frame, and a tongue 9 parallel thereto being provided to hold the pivot 7 which passes through the end of the link. The link 5 is pivoted at its free end to the face of the door near its upper edge at the point 10, there being provided a plate 11 screwed to the door at this location and having an apertured boss 12 through which the pivot pin 10 passes. The link 5 is preferably double', comprising the two similarly-shaped members 5, 5. At their point of connection with the link 4, these two members embrace the end of said link, the pivot 6 passing through the three members as seen in Fig. 2. At the pivot 10 the two members 5" embrace the opposite sides of the boss 12, the pivot 10 passing through the three members as shown also in Fig. 2. The link 5, as shown in Fig. 1, is curved from end to end and is made of resilient material so that when strained longitudinally or subjected to lateral force, it will yield and tend to straighten, consuming considerable force in so doing. The anchorage plate 11 is provided with astop or rest 13, from the face ofwhich projects a cross head or wing 14 capable of being turned into a plane coinciding with the plane of the link 5 or to a position at right angles thereto, the cross head having a stud passing through the face of the stop 13 and provided with a head 15 holding it in place, but permitting-its rotation. This cross-head when turned into the plane of the link 5 is positioned to pass between and project beyond the two members 5 of the link, whereupon it may be turned crosswise to lock the link against the face of the rest or stop 13.

Fig. 1 shows in full lines the positionof the when the door is open to the full extent, and in dotted lines the position when the door is nearly closed. It will be seen that in the completely open position the pivot 6 is out of line with the two pivots 7 and 10, so that if the door is otherwise free to be closed, the joint 6 will break outward at once and easily when the door is moved toward its closed position. The two links are not therefore, in the open position of the door, completely unfolded, and this angular relation is positively determined by the fact that the link 5 is prevented from further swinging upon the pivot 6 by its contact with the rest or stop 18. When the door swings to its wide open position, the

I moment the link strikes the stop 13, there members 5' of link5, and if it is desired to lock the door in this position, the cross-head is simply turned 90. To release the door it is, of course, necessary to again turn the cross-head into line with the space between f the members 5'.

A modified form of device shown in Fig. '1 operatesin substantially the same way as that of Fig. 1. The link 5 of Fig. 4, is straight instead of curved, but is supposed to be of resilient material and capable of flexing when subjected to lateral strain. lhe rest or stop 13 rising from the plate 11 is" higher than the corresponding part in when the door swings open to its limit, is

Fig. 1, in order tostop the straight link 5 before the pivot 6 is in line with the pivots 7 and 10. The flexed position which the link assumes when it strikes the stop 13 shown in dotted lines, this yielding of the link'preventing the strain upon the parts as before mentioned. lhe cross-head 14 is used in this case in the same manner as inv the construction of Fig. 1.

It will be seen that by providing that the link 5 shall come in contact with the stop '13 before the joint 6 falls into line with the pivots 7 and 10, the greatest advantage is taken of the inherent flexibility of the link since the strain upon the link is wholly lateral intsead'of partially lateral and partially longitudinal. At the same time the links are left in such a position that the joint breaksoutward at once when the door is moved toward the closed position. With 7 the link 5 curved, as shown in Fig. 1, it

would be possible to obtain a small amount of spring action even if the pivots were allowed to swing into line becauseof-the tendency of the straight pull to straighten the link, as can readily be understood, but it is preferred to use the stop 18 as a ful- Gopien 0! this patent may be obtained for crum to produce a lateral, well as a longitudinal, strain upon the link.

I claim:

1. A door stay and holder comprising two links jointed together and adapted to be pivoted to the door and door frame respectively, one of said links being flexible, and means whereby the final movement of the swing of the door will be retarded by the flexing of said link.

2. A door stay and holder comprising two links jointed together and adapted to be pivoted respectively, to the door and door frame, and means for applying a force laterally to one of the links at the limit of the swing of the door to cause said link to flex and avoid sudden stoppage of the door.

3. A door stay and holder comprising two links jointed together and adapted to be pivoted respectively, to the door and frame and adapted to fold and unfold in the swinging of the door, one of said links being laterally flexible, and a stop arranged to prevent said links from completely unfolding.

4:. A door stay and holder comprising two links jointed together and adapted to be pivoted to the door and door-frame respectively, and to fold and unfold in the swinging movement of the door, in combination with a stop arranged to engage one of the links and preventing the complete unfolding of the links, and means for locking the link in engagement with the stop.

5. A door stay and holder comprising two links jointed together and adapted to be pivoted to the door and door-frame respectively, and to fold and unfold in the swinging movement of the door, one of said links being adapted to flex laterally, and a stop cooperating with the door and arranged to impinge against the side of said link immediately before the finish of the swing of the door.

6. A door stay and holder comprising two links jointed together and adapted to be pivoted to the door and door-frame respectively, and to fold and unfold in the swinging movement of the door, one of said links being curved and tending to straighten when subjected to longitudinal strain.

In witness whereof I subscribe my signature.

OSCAR C. RIXSON.

five cents each. by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0." 

